Dutch MPs approve ban on kosher, halal slaughter

The Dutch parliament has okayed a bill that bans ritual animal slaughter practiced by Jews and Muslims. The bill, if enacted and enforced by the Senate, bans the slaughter of livestock without stunning it first, which violates kosher and halal rules. Observant Jews and Muslims would have to import meat, stop eating meat or leave the Netherlands. If the bill passes the Senate, the country will join New Zealand, Switzerland, and the Scandinavian and Baltic countries that all ban procedures which make meat kosher and halal. Jewish and Muslim groups say the bill infringes on their right to freedom of religion. The Sydney Morning Herald